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RIGHT THING? YOU KNOW HOW TO DO IT

Doing the ‘right thing’ used to be easier. Maybe is was because baby boomers didn’t have as many choices for doing wrong? I didn’t see a lot of choices besides ‘Do what you’re told’ growing up. From parents, to teachers, to coaches, scout leaders, and beyond, we were told what to do by people we […]

GIVING UP, BUT NOT A QUITTER?

Giving up is different than quitting. Really. Quitting means done, all over, finished. The Day I Quit. Giving up is a longer process. One is a reaction, the other a journey. Who’s got the map?

CLEAR DOWN RANGE NEW MEANING

The first time I heard the call of “CLEAR DOWN RANGE” I was laying in the dirt with the guys, Fort Ord dirt, and trying to fit three bullets inside the diameter of a quarter. The best I got was two in with a stray nearby. The rifle range targets were a head and shoulder […]

HEALTH JOURNEY ON A ROUGH ROAD

A ‘health journey’ is a phrase used by people with lots of doctor appointments. If you’re old enough you either take that rough road yourself, or you show up for others on it. Personally, I’ve never liked the term. I like it even less when it applies to young people coming down with old people […]

PLACING BLAME IN THE RIGHT PLACE

What’s the best way of placing blame? Pointing a finger? Yelling? Or checking to make sure there’s anyone or anything to blame? What about the blameless among us who’ve never done anything wrong?

GUITAR PLAYERS OF THE PAST

My guitar friends say guitar players are the same from every era. Unlike current critics of the NBA who say past greats played against milkmen and plumbers and wouldn’t survive in today’s game, musicians from the past are just a request away. Or a documentary. I recently saw The Wrecking Crew.

PERFORMANCE PRESSURE SELF INFLICTED

Performance pressure starts with doubt. Will you be good enough? Have you trained to win? Can you do it? These are the same questions asked when people decide to get married.

HALL OF FAME: WHICH ONE IS FOR YOU

A Hall of Fame career deserves to be enshrined in a place of honor. Why? So others can see their accomplishments and try to copy them? That’s partly correct until you start learning more about the people. A great player doesn’t always mean a good person. But why limit inductions for only sports?

WRITING ROOTS: HOW DEEP DO THEY GROW

Writing roots are reading roots. Everybody knows that from their first grade if they had a teacher as good as Mrs. Baker. I recall her saying, ‘Our writing is a reflection of our reading.’ I believed it then as I believe it now. (Folding a corner to mark my place in Patrick DeWitt’s novel The […]

TOXIC MALE? HOW TO TELL

Baby boomers were exposed to the toxic male early on, but it had another name: Junior High Football Coach. But it wasn’t their fault, it was just the times. When guys with names like Dick Butkus, Ray Nitschke, and Sam Huff were stuffing guys like Jim Brown and Jim Taylor, every coach wanted their players […]